Navarre · Hegoalde

Pamplona

Iruñea

Former capital of the Kingdom of Pamplona, which became the Kingdom of Navarre. A stage on the Camino de Santiago. The world-famous setting of the San Fermín festival immortalised by Hemingway. Pamplona is also a university city of around 208,000 people, with renowned food and remarkable heritage. Far more than a week of running with the bulls.

Pamplona in 30 seconds

207,777 inhabitants (INE 2024), capital of the Chartered Community of Navarre (Comunidad Foral de Navarra) — separate from the Basque Autonomous Community. According to tradition, the city owes its name to Pompey, who made the settlement the civitas of Pompaelo around 75 BC.

Pamplona-Noáin airport, Renfe railway station, three universities (University of Navarra, UNED, Public University of Navarre).

A little history to set the scene

75 BC: Pompey makes the settlement the city of Pompaelo.

9th century: the Kingdom of Pamplona, later the Kingdom of Navarre, emerges around Íñigo Arista (c. 816–851).

1512: Castilian occupation of Pamplona.

1521: a Franco-Navarrese army briefly retakes the city; on 20 May, Ignatius of Loyola, who is defending it, is seriously wounded there.

1657: Pope Alexander VII makes Saint Fermin and Saint Francis Xavier joint patron saints of Navarre.

1923: Ernest Hemingway’s first visit to the Sanfermines. He would return several times. The Sun Also Rises (Fiesta, 1926) would help make the festival famous the world over.

San Fermín (6–14 July) — a world-famous festival

The Chupinazo

6 July at 12:00. A rocket is fired from the town hall balcony in front of a crowd dressed in white and red (with a red neckerchief round the neck). The atmosphere is electric. The song ‘Pobre de mí’ will close the festival on the 14th at midnight.

The encierro — the running of the bulls

Every morning from 7 to 14 July, at 08:00. Six bulls and six lead steers (cabestros) run about 849 metres through the streets of the old town.

The route:

  • Cuesta de Santo Domingo (out of the corrals)
  • Mercaderes, then the bend into Estafeta
  • Calle Estafeta
  • Tramo de Telefónica, then the callejón and the Plaza de Toros (finish)

Statistics: 15 deaths recorded since 1924 (the most recent in 2009). The risk is real — the encierro is not a harmless tourist attraction.

The rest of the programme

  • Every day: parade of the Giants and Big-Heads troupe (Gigantes y Cabezudos)
  • Every afternoon from the 7th to the 14th: bullfight at the bullring
  • 23:00: fireworks (international competition) let off from the Ciudadela
  • The Riau-Riau: a traditional procession with a satirical streak, officially suspended since 1997

Peñas: the city’s festive clubs, each with its brass band. A wild but welcoming atmosphere.

Where to stay during San Fermín

Book a very long way ahead: demand soars during the festival. The alternative is to stay in another town in Navarre.

Pamplona the rest of the year

The Casco Antiguo

The old town and its city walls. Main streets: Estafeta (the encierro street), Mayor, San Nicolás. Café terraces, bars, restaurants.

Santa María la Real Cathedral

A Gothic building with a neoclassical façade. Its Gothic cloister is considered one of the finest of its style in Europe; also worth seeing are the puerta Preciosa and the puerta del Amparo. Inside is the alabaster tomb of Charles III the Noble and Eleanor of Castile.

The Ciudadela

A five-bastion star-shaped citadel, commissioned by Philip II in 1571 and designed by the engineer Giacomo Palearo, ‘el Fratin’. Two bastions (San Antón and La Victoria) were partly demolished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Demilitarised in 1964 and declared a national historic-artistic monument in 1973, it is now the largest green space in the city (more than 27 hectares; Europa Nostra award 2012). The 16th-century city walls, a national monument, run for 5 km.

Museum of Navarre

Founded on 24 June 1956 in a 16th-century hospital, whose Renaissance doorway (1556, Juan de Villarreal and Martín de Azcárate) is the only example of Renaissance civil architecture in Pamplona. Roman mosaics, the Togado de Pompelo, Romanesque capitals, Gothic wall paintings of the Passion, the Leyre casket (a masterpiece of Islamic art), Goya’s portrait of the Marquis of San Adrián, works by Oteiza and some 15,000 coins.

Plaza del Castillo

The big central square, with legendary names such as the La Perla hotel and the more than century-old Café Iruña, both frequented by Hemingway.

The Ayuntamiento (town hall)

The most photographed building in the city: the Chupinazo is fired from its balcony every 6 July.

The Camino de Santiago — arriving in Pamplona

Pamplona is a stage on the Camino Francés (the French Way), between Roncesvalles (Orreaga) and Puente la Reina, after crossing the Pyrenees from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (Donibane Garazi).

You’ll recognise the pilgrims by their scallop shells and walking poles. There are several albergues (pilgrim hostels) in the city.

Local specialities

  • Pochas — fresh white beans
  • Piquillos — red peppers from Lodosa
  • Pacharán navarro — sloe liqueur

The Bardenas desert

Bardenas Reales — 41,845 hectares of semi-desert landscape in the south of Navarre, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 7 November 2000. Eroded rock formations, including Castildetierra, badlands and canyons. A film location for productions such as Rango and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. See also our guide to Tudela.

Osasuna, Pamplona’s football club

Club Atlético Osasuna (‘health’ in Basque) was founded on 24 October 1920 through the merger of two Pamplona clubs. The club wears red shirts and navy shorts, plays at the El Sadar stadium (opened in 1967, around 23,500 seats) and has spent more than forty seasons in the top flight.

  • Copa del Rey finals: 2005 (lost 2–1 to Betis) and 2023 (lost 2–1 to Real Madrid).
  • UEFA Cup semi-final in 2006–2007.
  • A club owned by its members (socios; nearly 20,000 in 2024–2025): it is one of the few Spanish professional clubs that is not a sporting limited company (sociedad anónima deportiva).
  • A women’s team plays in the second tier.

Getting there

  • By car: from San Sebastián, or from France via Roncesvalles
  • By train: Renfe station
  • By air: Pamplona-Noáin airport. Alternatives: Bilbao or San Sebastián

Ready-made itineraries

One day in Pamplona (outside San Fermín)

  • Morning: Plaza del Castillo + Café Iruña, then the cathedral and cloister
  • Lunch: pintxos (Casco Antiguo)
  • Afternoon: Museum of Navarre, then the Ciudadela and its park
  • Evening: a stroll along the city walls, pintxos on Calle San Nicolás

A weekend

Day 2: Bardenas Reales (day trip; a car is essential)

Three days

Day 3: Olite (royal palace) + Estella-Lizarra (Camino) + return

Frequently asked questions

When should you go to San Fermín for the first time?

On 6 July (Chupinazo) for the opening-day atmosphere; from the 7th to the 14th to see an encierro.

Should you run with the bulls?

No, unless you are well prepared. Watching from a balcony or behind the barriers is far safer.

Is Pamplona quiet outside San Fermín?

Yes, much quieter. Autumn and spring are pleasant times to visit.

Famous people linked to Pamplona

  • Saint Francis Xavier (1506–1552) — born in Javier (Navarre), companion of Ignatius of Loyola and one of the founders of the Society of Jesus, missionary in Asia, joint patron saint of Navarre with Saint Fermin since 1657; 3 December, the day of his death, is Navarre Day.
  • Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556) — seriously wounded in Pamplona on 20 May 1521 during the Franco-Navarrese attack; his convalescence triggered his conversion, before he founded the Jesuits.
  • Pablo Sarasate (1844–1908) — virtuoso violinist and composer born in Pamplona, died in Biarritz, famous for his Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Airs).
  • Miguel Induráin (born 1964) — cyclist, from Villava-Atarrabia, near Pamplona, five consecutive Tour de France wins (1991–1995), the only rider to have achieved this feat.
  • Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) — American writer who first came to the Sanfermines in 1923 and made them famous with The Sun Also Rises (1926).
  • Carlos Garaikoetxea (born 1938 in Pamplona) — PNV politician, first lehendakari (president) of the Basque Government after the Statute of Gernika (1980–1985), then founder of Eusko Alkartasuna in 1986.
  • Uxue Barkos (born 1964 in Pamplona) — radio and television journalist (including for ETB), member of the Congress of Deputies (2004–2015), then President of the Government of Navarre (2015–2019) with Geroa Bai.
  • María Chivite (born 1978 in Cintruénigo) — socialist (PSN-PSOE), President of Navarre since 2019.
  • Amaia (Amaia Romero, born 1999 in Pamplona) — singer, winner of Operación Triunfo 2017, Spain’s entry at Eurovision 2018 with Alfred García; her first album Pero no pasa nada (2019) went to number one in Spain. She also acts in the series La Mesías.

What’s on

My favourite photo

The encierro in Calle Estafeta, from a balcony — the sea of white-and-red runners chased by the bulls, an iconic moment. Or Plaza del Castillo at midnight during San Fermín, when the party is in full swing.

Sources

Ongi etorri Iruñera — Welcome to Pamplona.

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